


Conversations With (and Between) Ghosts

by zarabithia



Category: Star Wars Original Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Attachment and love are not the same thing, Force Ghosts, Jedi Appreciation, M/M, Meddling Force Ghosts (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:14:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Someday, Luke will have a student. He's sure of it.In the meantime, he has a lot to learn about the Jedi, and a few people to learn it from.After all, he is not the last Jedi.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa/Han Solo, Luke Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Luke Skywalker/Quinlan Vos, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 27
Kudos: 469





	Conversations With (and Between) Ghosts

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: I tried to smush the timelines together and make them make sense. Eh, maybe I succeeded. 
> 
> Also, yes, I am ignoring the Kylo Ren comics' assertion that Luke is going around claiming to be the last Jedi, because ... it does not do good things for my heart. 
> 
> Also, Ahsoka's speech to Luke should sound familiar. It was originally George Lucas' speech.

Luke leaves the party early, feeling an overwhelming urge to meditate. It is strange how something that he'd never done until he'd left Tatooine now seems so comforting. But an hour before, he'd seen the ghost of his father next to the ghost of Ben Kenobi and Master Yoda. So perhaps the simplicity of meditating is the kind of comfort he needs. 

He's such a long way from the sands of Tatooine and the simple life of a moisture farmer that he'd never wanted in the first place.

He walks until he can no longer hear the shouting and music from the celebrations, and then he sits, nestled between two trees and a bit of dirt dry enough to seem comfortable.

He sits down, crosses his legs, and concentrates.

Yet, his mind wanders. What will he do now? There is no longer an enemy to defeat, so what is his purpose now? Leia's purpose is to rebuild the Republic. Certainly he will help her, but isn't The Last Jedi meant to do more? 

"Such a flair for the dramatic," a familiar voice says. "My, but you are like your father, in some ways. Master Yoda was certainly correct there." 

Luke opens his eyes, and sees the familiar face of Ben Kenobi, smiling with an ease that Luke had never seen before. 

Well, why not? Most of Ben Kenobi's old wounds were likely healed now, and he seems nothing less than thrilled to be joined by his old apprentice.

Maybe he had good reason to seem so calm and happy. 

"You'll have to excuse your father for not coming. He and Yoda agreed I should be the one to visit, considering the state of your current crisis." 

Ben gives a soft chuckle that seems completely unfamiliar, and Luke is almost at a loss of how to respond.

"I'm not having a crisis," he denies.

"Of course you are. You were practically screaming to the Force for guidance," Ben corrects. It's a gentle rebuff, so gentle that Luke isn't sure it is meant to be a rebuff at all. 

How did his father, always so direct, get along so well with a man who deals so ... less directly? 

"Isn't that what Force ghosts are for?" Luke asks. 

"Of course it is. I will always be here if you truly need me. Much of your lineage is," Ben says. "Though, of course, not all of it." 

"What do you mean, not all of it?" 

Ben adjusts his robes, which can't really be necessary in the afterlife. "My dear boy, you are not the last Jedi." 

"But I thought... Leia and I were all that survived of the Jedi."

"Amazing. Every part of that sentence is wrong," Ben says.

"Tell me about the others!" Luke says, and then adds, "Please?" 

"Oh, a please? In some ways, you are still your mother's child, too," Ben says. "Very well. Let's begin with Ahsoka Tano." 

And suddenly, Luke has a purpose again.

* * *

"You could have let me tell him about Ahsoka," Anakin complains when Obi-Wan appears beside him again. 

The complaint is good-natured, mostly. And so is Obi-Wan's reply.

"We share a fondness for Ahsoka, Anakin. You do not share my gift of brevity, however."

* * *

Meeting Ahsoka Tano is not at all what Luke expected. Sure, Ben had made it very clear that Ahsoka was a masterful Jedi, and a bit "unorthodox," due to her experiences at the end of the Clone Wars. 

But one minute, Master Tano is pointing two lightsabers at him, and the next, she is saying, "... Skyguy?" 

And she looks the way Luke had felt staring down at the remains of the Lars' homestead. 

"I don't know who that is," Luke tells her. "I'm Luke Skywalker."

"Skywalker?" Master Tano's voice tightens, but her lightsabers remain steady. "That's impossible." 

"Anakin Skywalker was my father," Luke says earnestly. "And Ben - Obi-Wan Kenboi sent me." 

"Every word you say is more impossible," Master Tano muses. "And yet ... it explains so much." 

"Does it?" Luke asks in confusion. 

Her lightsabers lower and the same kind of smile slips over her face as Ben Kenobi had held when he had spoken about her. 

"Can't you feel it?" Master Tano asks. 

Luke is kind enough not to mention the softness of her voice, but he suddenly feels very rude for not having brought Leia with him. 

"I have so much I need to tell you about my father," Luke says. "And so much I need to ask." 

"Well, the last time I told a Skywalker no, I lived to regret it," Master Tano says. "Come on then, Skyguy. Let's talk."

* * *

"She shouldn't regret it. It's not her fault," Anakin mutters to Obi-Wan as they watch Ahsoka and Luke sit together.

"No," Obi-Wan admits. "But our lineage has never dealt well with guilt. There was a time before you came along that it almost drove Qui-Gon to the Dark Side. Or at least, that's what we feared." 

Anakin doesn't speak of what guilt drove either of them to do. The blood on his hands is as clear as what Tatooine's sun did to Obi-Wan's beautiful face. 

He waits instead for a moment, listening to his son speak to Ahsoka, before he murmurs, "You probably should have told him she wasn't a Master." 

"She doesn't seem in a hurry to correct him," Obi-Wan muses. 

It's true. She is far too amused at Luke's earnestness to correct him. 

"Besides," Obi-Wan adds, "I believe I am still a senior ranking member of the Council. If I say she is a Master, who is to argue with me?" 

"Master Yoda," Anakin retorts.

"Let's not tell him," Obi-Wan suggests.

* * *

Luke has done a lot of listening, and a lot of training. He has tried to keep his questions at a minimum, but now he has other questions. 

"It just sounds very lonely," he says to Master Tano one day, near what will be there last together. He doesn't want to go, because he has learned so much.

But there are other Jedi, and potential Jedi out there. So go he must. 

"What does?" Ahsoka asks as she checks over her ship. She will be leaving this planet soon, too. 

"Life as a Jedi," Luke clarifies. "It sounds lonelier than anything I ever experienced on Tatooine." 

"I still can't believe he took you to Tatooine right under Vader's nose," Ahsoka says, and the amusement does not surprise him, because it has been a constant source of her laughter since he told her, three weeks ago. 

"It wasn't the best," Luke says, respectful of the people who raised him, even if he doesn't miss the planet itself. "But even on Tatooine, I was still allowed to ... love people." 

"You think we didn't?" Ahsoka asks. 

"Attachment." 

"Ah." Ahsoka stops looking over her ship, and comes to stand next to him. "A common misconception. Or maybe just pure buying into Empire propaganda. I'm not sure which." 

"I don't believe the Empire propaganda!" Luke protests, and his indignation wants to grow as she laughs at him. 

But it seems almost impossible to be angry at Master Tano. 

She takes his hands in her own and squeezes them lightly as she speaks. "As a Jedi, I was never lonely. We lived on compassion. We lived on helping people. People ... people loved us, and we were free to love them back. Attachment did not forbid that. But attachment ... when a person dies, we have to let them go. Those that cannot let go become miserable." She smiles sadly. "That's the lonely place. That leads to the Dark Side." 

"Like my father," Luke guesses. 

"And many before him," Ahsoka tells him. "Love is not bad, Skyguy. Attachment is. And there will always be a difference." 

Once she says it, it seems so simple, and Luke feels foolish. 

He knows that Ben loved her, and he knows that she loved his father. He has felt that through the Force whenever she has spoken of him. 

He only hopes that his father loved her as much.

He has a feeling it's something he could easily inherit from his father, if he stayed here long enough. 

But there are other Jedi to meet, and Luke cannot stay here.

* * *

"Seems rather simple when she explains it, doesn't it?" Anakin says ruefully to Obi-Wan as they watch Luke say goodbye and get ready to depart.

"She always was rather clever," Obi-Wan agrees, because it is the kindest thing to say. 

"She is amazing. Do you know how well she held her own with Darth Vader?" Anakin murmurs. "Very few were able to do that. And she was fearless." 

"The galaxy will need much of that in the years to come," Obi-Wan says. "Fortunately, they both have a plentiful supply of it."

* * *

Luke has gotten pretty good at sensing things in the Force, he thinks. He's had time, now that they are working on rebuilding the Republic instead of just trying to survive. He's gotten better, and so he thinks he really should have heard the giant of a man who lands down out of nowhere right in front of him during a scouting mission to Endor. 

But he does not, until the man has a lightsaber to Luke's throat. 

He holds it there for a minute, before he steps back, grins, and lowers the lightsaber in what appears to be one swift movement. 

"You must be Skywalker," the man says, in a voice cheerful enough to suggest that he hadn't just had his weapon pressed to Luke's throat. "Can't say I see a deal big enough to have Kenobi haunting me, but he usually had good taste in character, so I'll have to take the old ghost's word for it." 

"Who are you?" Luke demands, but something makes him not reach for his own lightsaber. The man doesn't feel like a threat, though he is much harder to read than Master Tano had been. 

"Kenobi didn't mention me?" the man says. "Tragic. Unbelievable. After all we went through together, too." 

"Did you try to kill him, too?" Luke asks. 

The man actually rolls his eyes. "If I had tried to kill you, your unobservant hide would be dead by now." 

"Unobservant!" Luke doesn't like to think that he is shouting, but he suspects anyone else would disagree with him. "I was hardly unobservant. You are just really - " 

"Good? Gifted? Talented? Skilled?" The stranger suggests. "All of the above are true, but you should probably keep in mind that there are still ex-Imperials out there who are almost equally all of those." 

"I know about them," Luke points out. "I've fought several of them, you know. What I don't know is who you are." 

He emphasizes it a little this time, because it is the second time he's asked. 

"Quinlan Vos," the man says, and he extends a hand. 

Luke takes it, and all of the presence that the man had been hiding is suddenly very loud. 

"You're a Jedi," Luke says. 

"I did have a lightsaber," Vos points out.

"You could have stolen it," Luke answers. 

Vos turns Luke's hand over in his. "So I could have," he agrees. "There are many in the galaxy who would. But now that you know I'm not one of them, perhaps we can chat." 

"Chat?" Luke asks dryly. "I'd love to know more about the Jedi, but I don't think you'll be a very orthodox teacher." 

"I was a great teacher once," Vos promises him. "In a good deal many subjects." 

He winks, and Luke thinks back to the week before, when one of Wedge's men had asked if the Jedi had to take a vow of celibacy. The Force - and Ben Kenobi - had apparently sent Quinlan Vos as a resounding "no." 

It has been a few ... busy weeks, and he does have some downtime.

* * *

"I can't believe you sent Quinlan Vos to defile my son," Anakin says to Obi-Wan as they carefully avert their gaze to give Quinlan and Luke the entire planet to themselves. 

"Please. He grew up on Tatooine," Obi-Wan points out.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Anakin asks. 

"Between the slavery that ran rampant on the planet and the sheer boredom of being a moisture farmer, do you think he remained ... unaware of how things work?" Obi-Wan is polite about it, but it doesn't make Anakin feel less foolish.

"Did you know that my daughter strangled a Hutt with his own chain?" Anakin says, changing the subject almost entirely. "Do you think it's too Dark Side to enjoy that?" 

"I didn't hate it myself," Obi-Wan assures him.

* * *

Unlike Master Tano, Quinlan Vos does not stick around very long. He leaves as quickly as he had arrived, long before Luke awakes.

But he leaves behind him several books, and two maps. One of the maps is to a place named Ach-To, and the other leads Luke to a rock.

The rock seems very unimpressive - right up until the moment he sat down on it. And then, all at once, the Force is louder than it's ever been.

It's ... delightful. 

Obi-Wan had been right. He isn't the last Jedi at all. Neither is Master Tano nor Quinlan Vos. 

There are going to be so many more, and Luke has never been more sure of his purpose.

* * *

"Do you suppose it would have been too much to ask for Vos to have left behind instructions about what any of those things mean?" Anakin asks Obi-Wan. 

"Oh, definitely," Obi-Wan answers.

* * *

Luke feels like he has not seen his sister in forever. Letting go of the hug is something he does reluctantly. 

"You seem happy," she says to him. "Much more settled." 

"I'm going to start a school," Luke says. "A Jedi school. Like they had in the Old Republic. Oh, Leia, I didn't realize there were more of us. But there are." 

"That sounds exciting. And what of the X-Wing pilots who look up to you?" She asks. 

Luke shakes his head. "I'll always be a pilot if they need me, but Wedge has that under control."

Leia laughs. "Are you going to see your nephew, first? Before you run off and start your school?" 

"Of course," Luke says. "I brought him a present." 

He holds up a fuzzy stuffed toy that looks like a combination bird-Ewok-Chewbacca mix. It's hideous and Ben will love it. 

"You spoil him worse than Han," Leia chides. "Mother and Father would never have approved."

* * *

Obi-Wan doesn't say anything, because he knows that Leia's words cut as deep as a lightsaber. 

"They loved her a lot," Anakin says quietly. 

"As their own," Obi-Wan confirms. "And they loved Padme." 

That hurts him too, Obi-Wan knows. 

"Who wouldn't?" Anakin says softly. "... Thank you, Obi-Wan." 

"For what?" 

"For making sure our children were loved," Anakin says simply. 

"I loved them, too," Obi-Wan answers. "What else could I have done?"

* * *

He is with Lando, drinking hot chocolate, when he receives the first signal. Someone else has been to the seeing stone! He almost drops his hot chocolate in surprise.

"Are you alright, Friend?" Lando asks, above the rim of a cup that matches his magnificent purple cape perfectly. 

"Shh," Luke says, and he concentrates .... 

And then he realizes. The child doesn't want to go with him. 

It's ... disappointing. But the child - a girl, Luke thinks, - would be 5 Tatooine years old, and she is only on the seeing stone because her mother ... no. Her _owner_ had put her there. 

Not everyone appreciates the ability to move rocks with the Force's help. 

Luke scowls into his hot chocolate as the vision breaks, but Lando is kind enough to give him time to let the vision go. 

"I need to get to Tython," he tells Lando. "Want to take a trip?" 

"There is nothing there but a bunch of rocks," Lando says dismissively, "But fortunately, there are some things nearby that are worth my time. When do we leave?" 

"Now," Luke says firmly. "Someone needs reminded that slavery is forbidden in the New Republic." 

"Oh, a slave revolt?" Lando sighs wistfully. "L3-37 would have loved to have seen this."

* * *

"It's not exactly strangling a Hutt," Anakin comments as the slave owner comes face to face with the Jedi that the little girl had summoned. "But it's not terrible." 

"No, no, it's quite the opposite of terrible," Obi-Wan agrees. "I don't believe this was the payment that the woman was expecting when she brought the child there." 

"Definitely not," Anakin agrees.

* * *

"I thought you were starting a school," Lando says, after the little one has been tucked in and is sleeping peacefully in one of Lando's glorious cape closets. 

"I was," Luke says. "Well, I am." 

"Then why are we taking this child to Syndulla?" Lando asks. "Also, did you call first? Not that it's any of my business, but it seems appropriate." 

"We'll sort it out when we get there," Luke answers. "And we are going because this child doesn't want to be a Jedi. She wants a normal life... but she still needs someone who understands the Force. Syndulla ... does." 

Lando looks like he wants to ask more, but he shrugs and leans back in the pilot chair. "Well, why not? I'm only in it for the adventure and the lovely company. Han is boring these days, you know." 

He winks so shamelessly that Luke wants to ask him if he's ever met Quinlan Vos.

* * *

"Did you want to be a Jedi?" Obi-Wan asks.

Anakin stops watching Lando's efforts to flirt with his son and turns to look at Obi-Wan. "When Master Qui-Jon showed up, I wanted two things in my life: to be a Jedi and to stay with my mom. Just because they weren't compatible... doesn't mean I didn't want them both." 

Obi-Wan sighs and turns his gaze back towards the scene in front of him. "You were a great Jedi. I am happy to hear that you ... didn't hate it. Not always." 

"In the end, I loved three things: Being a Jedi, Padme, and you. And my fear of losing one made me lose all three," Anakin answers. "That doesn't make the love I had for those things less."

* * *

"I was surprised to hear that you accompanied Wedge and his team on their last mission," Leia says as Ben runs across the floor to give his uncle a hug. "I thought you would have been busy with your new school by now." 

Ben's dirty fingers promptly spread a questionable food substance all over the orange of Luke's pilot outfit. He laughs and gives Ben a gentle toss. 

"I found my first student...and she didn't want to be a Jedi," Luke admits. 

"She is with her parents now?" Leia asks. 

"Her new family. She's being raised by Hera Syndulla now." 

" _The_ Hera Syndulla?" Leia asks. 

There's questions there, but Luke doesn't tell her about Kanan or Ezra or any details. He would, if she asked, but she doesn't, so he doesn't offer it. 

"Yes. Her children... have a school. And it made me think," Luke continues. "Maybe the school I build... maybe it can be different from the Jedi Temple in the Old Republic. Maybe it has to be. The Padawan and Master relationship was crucial, but if you listen to Master Tano talk, she was trained by Father and Master Kenobi. Maybe ... maybe it can be more ... I don't know... communal." 

"That sounds great," Leia says dryly. "For when you actually get students."

Luke grins and kisses the top of Ben's head. He's not worried about that. There will be more students. He's sure of it.

* * *

"The Council would 't be happy," Anakin muses. 

"Qui-Jon would have. Master Tholme would have approved, and I hear your son is quite fond of some of his lineage these days," Obi-Wan teases.

Anakin rolls his eyes. "How long do you suppose it will be until he actually gets a student?" 

"Patience, Anakin."

"You know very well I don't have any."

"Humor us both and pretend you do."

* * *

There are more children. 

The problem is not that the galaxy is short on Force sensitive children. The problem is that not all children want to train. 

The other problem is that far too many people bought into the ridiculous Empire propaganda about the Jedi stealing their children, and convincing them otherwise is impossible. 

R2 beeps at him and Luke sighs down at the ancient texts. 

"Yeah," he agrees. "The Jedi sure did lose the propaganda war."

* * *

"I'm always happy to see Ahsoka kick someone's hide," Anakin says as they watch her. "But, why are we here instead of listening to my daughter ruin terrible politicians or listening to my son have a crisis?" 

"Mm. It feels right. In the Force," Obi-Wan answers. "I'm not sure why. You don't have to stay, of course."

"No, I don't," Anakin agrees. "But I enjoy the company and the view." 

In front of them, Ahsoka stops abruptly. 

"Disappointing," Anakin says. "All over Bo-Katan sending a Mandalorian? Why?" 

"She is a formidable warrior," Obi-Wan says, diplomatically. "But ... I don't think the Force brought us here because of Bo-Katan. I think it sent us because of the man in the helmet."

* * *

Luke is in the middle of repairing his X-Wing, when he feels the connection.

It's a weak one, but it's unmistakable, and his tools end up on the floor as he focuses. 

It's a child. it's a child who wants to be a Jedi. The child ... is in distress. People are chasing him. His father is doing everything possible to take care of him... His father is a Mandalorian. 

But his father wants him to have the training. 

And the child wants the training. 

The images the child sends through the Force are incredible, and Luke is somewhat concerned when the connection ends abruptly. 

But he knows that the child will be his first student, so he quickly picks up his tools and finishes the repairs. Nothing has ever felt more urgent.

* * *

"The tiny Yoda is going to be my son's first student?" Anakin asks. 

"It appears that way," Obi-Wan remarks. 

"But Ahsoka said he was too much like me," Anakin says, with worry in his tone. "Too attached." 

"She might have been right," Obi-Wan answers. "Or ... she might have been influenced by the pain she still feels from losing you. Not everyone with ... difficulty letting go... turns to the Dark Side." 

"Some just become amazing Jedi," Anakin says proudly. 

"Yes," Obi-Wan says. "Our lineage has a few of those."

* * *

There are a lot of panicked people on the bridge when Luke shows up, so he puts his lightsaber away. The child calls to him immediately.

But his father is worried. 

The Jedi are not, nor have they ever been, babynappers. So Luke tells him the truth. "He wants your permission." 

Luke knows then that the father will give his permission. He expects that. He does not expect the father to remove his helmet.

He also does not expect him to be attractive. 

Someday, perhaps, Luke's missions will start going the way he expects them to. But today is not that day.

* * *

"Amazing. He didn't even introduce himself," Obi-Wan muses. 

"At least he didn't float any fruit towards him," Anakin answers. 

"What? Why would he do that?" 

"That's a fair question," Anakin replies. "But the bigger point is the fact that my son has fallen for a Mandalorian, and that is definitely your fault."

"How in the galaxy is it my fault?" 

Anakin just looks at him. "Did you ever float any fruit towards the Duchess?" he asks pointedly.

"Certainly not," Obi-Wan says. "Besides... that's an entirely different type of Mandalorian."

"I don't think it matters." 

"I think it probably matters to your future son-in-law," Obi-Wan scoffs.

"Son-in-law? They just met. Besides, Jedi can't get married. That's attachment." 

"Mm," Obi-Wan answers. "As you well know, a member of our council married and had children just fine. It's a new Jedi Order. Maybe they will get married. Maybe they should. Maybe they shouldn't." 

"Well, it's their mistakes to figure out," Anakin says easily. 

"Exactly. Running around the galaxy making mistakes is a game for the young, and neither of us is that, anymore."

* * *

The child has been in Luke's care for three of Tatooine's months, when his father shows back up.

Luke welcomes him with a smile. "He has missed you. But Grogu has made great strides in his learning." 

The Mandalorian pauses and reaches for something at his belt. He extends it slowly, still closed, in the palm of his hand. "This ... apparently I won this. I don't want it. But Bo-Katan won't take it back. Apparently it belonged to your people once. I thought perhaps you would ... want it back." 

"Perhaps instead, you'd like to learn how to use it," Luke suggests. "You could stay here and train, alongside your son." 

"Is that ... allowed?" The Mandalorian asks. "I thought it wasn't. Ahsoka Tano mentioned ... attachment. Your people forbid it." 

"That is true. But we don't forbid love," Luke answers. "If Master Tano thought Grogu unsuitable to be trained, she would not have sent you to the seeing stone." 

The Mandalorian hesitates, but not for very long. Luke is not surprised when he agrees to stay. 

"I'm Luke Skywalker, by the way," Luke tells him. "I may have forgotten to have mention that, before." 

"I know who you are," the Mandalorian says. "Cara Dune ... thinks very highly of your sister." 

"I'll have to mention it to Leia," Luke says lightly. "But first, come say hello to your son, and let's eat. You must be hungry."

* * *

"Oh, dear. He did just float fruit. Please tell me it was less embarrassing when you did to to Padme?" Obi-Wan says.

"I thought so at the time, but in retrospect, no." 

"Well, at least the child looks impressed."

"Oh, come on. The Mandalorian looks impressed, too," Anakin argues. "There still could be a wedding." 

"There could," Obi-Wan agrees with a soft chuckle. "As Master Yoda would say ... 'always in motion, the future is.'"


End file.
